AMB Financial (OTCMKTS:AMFC) and Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) Critical Contrast

Banner (NASDAQ:BANR) and AMB Financial (OTCMKTS:AMFC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Banner and AMB Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Banner	$877.77 million	2.33	$195.38 million	$5.64	10.65
AMB Financial	$23.37 million	1.28	$3.42 million	N/A	N/A

Banner has higher revenue and earnings than AMB Financial.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.3% of Banner shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.2% of AMB Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Banner shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 37.7% of AMB Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Banner and AMB Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Banner	0	3	4	0	2.57
AMB Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

Banner currently has a consensus target price of $71.17, indicating a potential upside of 18.51%. Given Banner’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Banner is more favorable than AMB Financial.

Risk and Volatility

Banner has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMB Financial has a beta of 0.17, indicating that its stock price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Banner pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. AMB Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Banner pays out 35.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Banner and AMB Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Banner	22.26%	10.46%	1.21%
AMB Financial	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Banner beats AMB Financial on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Banner

Banner Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Banner Bank that engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and public sector entities in the United States. It accepts various deposit instruments, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, regular savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as treasury management services and retirement savings plans. The company also provides commercial real estate loans, including owner-occupied, investment properties, and multifamily residential real estate loans; construction, land, and land development loans; one- to four-family residential real estate lending; commercial business loans; agricultural loans; consumer and other loans, such as home equity lines of credit, automobile, and boat and recreational vehicle loans, as well as loans secured by deposit accounts; and small business administration loans. In addition, it provides electronic and digital banking services comprising debit cards and ATMs, internet banking, remote deposit, and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1890 and is based in Walla Walla, Washington.

About AMB Financial

AMB Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for American Community Bank of Indiana that provides financial services to customers in Indiana. The company provides savings, checking, health savings, individual retirement, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers business checking accounts, business debit and credit cards, and order business checks. In addition, the company offers mortgage loans, home equity loans, construction/lot loans, community loans, vehicle loans, and loan servicing; and commercial loans, commercial real estate loans, and SBA loans. Further, it provides merchant, remote deposit, wire services, fraud protection, and ACH origination; sweep services, zero balance accounts, lockbox services, vault services, and wealth management services; online, mobile, voice, and banking services; money order and e-statement services; cashier’s checks; and safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Saint John, Indiana.